April 2026

Certainly there are the pressures of the summer and the consequences for rural communities. Fire authorities across the country are also having to make incredibly tough decisions about what they resource and the people they can employ. It is a pressure point that is moving at a hell of a pace and we need a quick response to the challenge. I hope the Minister will be able to provide answers and reassurance on some of the points that people have raised. What are the Government planning to do to pr

2. What steps she has taken to help support people with the cost of living in Worsley and Eccles constituency.

It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) on securing this important debate. In my constituency, there are a number of park home sites, including in Rainworth, Calverton and Ollerton, and those sites often provide an affordable and accessible housing option for people later in life. Park homes in my constituency are situated close to local amenities, making them particularly suitable for vulnerable and olde

Parliamentary appearance by Sadik Al-Hassan

1. What fiscal steps she is taking to help reduce the level of food bank usage by families in Hornsey and Friern Barnet constituency.

It is indeed a very exciting development to see the bold and vital steps taken to address child poverty, but runaway rental costs are driving hunger and hardship. Building council homes is obviously the right long-term approach, and Haringey council is the second biggest builder of council homes in the whole country. Will the Treasury team now help struggling families by lifting the freeze on local housing allowance so that there is a permanent link between rents and support?

Let me begin by welcoming the Minister back to his place—we missed him last night, and it is good to see him back in the Chamber. Throughout our many debates, we have broadly agreed on the policy intent behind most of the Bill, but as I have said time and again, agreement on the principles of a Bill is not the same as offering the Minister unqualified support for every measure in it, particularly the power contained in clause 40, the power of mandation—or the reserve power, as the Chief Secretar

I strongly welcome the steps that the Government have taken to bring down my constituents’ energy bills from the start of this month. However, the effects of the war in Iran are now beginning to feed through into higher food prices. Pressures on oil and fertiliser costs are likely to intensify, and I am concerned about increases in the price of my constituents’ weekly shop at a time when their budgets are already strained. Will the Chancellor outline what steps the Government have taken to prote

T9. This Labour Government have ensured that, as of this month, workers in Worsley and Eccles and across the country get sick pay from day one, including low-paid workers. As chair of the USDAW parliamentary group, and having campaigned for this, I welcome this so much. Does the Chancellor agree that it is only Labour, with its trade union link, that is on the side of working people?

First, it is important that in all of this we are centring Epstein’s victims, who have so often been forgotten. Their courageous campaign for justice and accountability continues and we must all do all we can to support it. I have heard the argument that this is all a distraction from the real issues that we should be discussing. I would like nothing more than for us to be focusing on what the Government have delivered, such as: bringing NHS waiting lists down; raising the minimum wage and lifti

The Chancellor said, “National security always comes first”, but she delayed the helicopter contract for our industrial base and we know that she is blocking the defence investment plan. Labour’s former Defence Secretary and secretary general of NATO, Lord Robertson, said, “We cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget.” He is right, so why is the Chancellor failing to grip the benefits bill and invest in our defence?

Whereas the Conservatives froze fuel duty for 14 years, Labour is planning to increase it by 5p, costing families £150 a year and hauliers £2,000. When the Chancellor was asked to reverse her hike, she said she was “loath to spend Government money” to do so. There is no such thing as Government money; there is only taxpayers’ money. Rather than increase taxes again, will she actually help households and businesses facing higher prices and scrap this fuel hike?

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Last week, I tabled a written question to the Foreign Secretary, asking whether Jonathan Powell was subject to scrutiny vetting before or after he was appointed as the Prime Minister’s special envoy on the Chagos negotiations. I have not yet received a response. Given that Morgan McSweeney appeared to tell the Foreign Affairs Committee this morning that the vetting process began only after Powell was later appointed as National Security Adviser, how can

My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. Is it not the reality that this is about a Leader of the Opposition who called for us to join the US in the war in Iran, and who called the Prime Minister a liar when the evidence has shown that there is absolutely no basis for it? Is this not just the Leader of the Opposition once again shooting from the hip?

I thank the hon. Member for securing this valuable debate. I have a good number of park home sites in my constituency. Not only do they suffer the 10% commission, poor maintenance levels and high service charges, but they have atrocious service on the utilities that they have to buy through the park home owner. Some years ago, one site collectively was charged £100,000 for a water leak, which was £1,000 a home. I got that refunded from South West Water. The same site recently had blocked drains

T2. This weekend, while door-knocking in Woodley, I spoke to a young father of three who, despite working multiple skilled jobs, feared being made homeless because of high and rising costs of rent. Will the Chancellor examine the case for a fixed-term rent freeze in the private rented sector to protect renters like my constituent from rising costs following the invasion of Iran, and to bring inflation down in the wider economy?

Parliamentary appearance by Sir Alec Shelbrooke

Parliamentary appearance by Sir Christopher Chope

Parliamentary appearance by Sir Christopher Chope

Parliamentary appearance by Dan Tomlinson